Close binary white dwarf systems: Numerous new detections and their interpretation

We describe radial velocity observations of a large sample of apparently si ngle white dwarfs (WDs), obtained in a long-term effort to discover close d ouble-degenerate (DD) pairs, which might comprise viable Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) progenitors. We augment the WD sample with a previously observed sa mple of apparently single subdwarf B (sdB) stars, which are believed to evo lve directly to the WD cooling sequence after the cessation of core helium burning. We have identified 18 new radial velocity variables, including fiv e confirmed sdB + WD short-period pairs. Our observations are in general ag reement with the predictions of the theory of binary star evolution. We des cribe a numerical method to evaluate the detection efficiency of the survey and estimate the number of binary systems not detected because of the effe cts of varying orbital inclination, orbital phase at the epoch of the first observation, and the actual temporal sampling of each object in the sample . Follow-up observations are in progress to solve for the orbital parameter s of the candidate velocity variables.